It’s described as street theater, but the actors are far from ordinary. La Machine made its North American debut in Ottawa this weekend. It was the latest special event to celebrate Canada’s 150th anniversary in the capital. La Machine comes from France and features a giant mechanical spider named Kumo and an even larger dragon-horse called Long Ma. From Thursday to Sunday, they roamed the downtown streets, attracting thousands of people and causing traffic gridlock.

Before the Friday evening show began, Kumo was “resting” downtown, next to the Rideau Canal by the convention centre. Long Ma was in front of City Hall on Laurier Avenue. Soon after 8:00 pm, they each “woke up” and amazed the crowd. The view from the Mackenzie King Bridge gave the opportunity to see both machines in action, walking through city streets and towering over people, cars, and buildings. I had vague images of H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, or on a more lowbrow level, those low-budget science fiction movies that TV stations used to show as cheap filler programming. La Machine was overall entertaining and intriguing.

Kumo the La Machine Spider, just before “waking up” with operators in place. Photo: James Morgan

La Machine is theater, so there was a story behind the Ottawa performances, titled The Spirit of the Dragon-Horse with Stolen Wings. It’s a story of fantasy in a buttoned-down political town. Long Ma is supposedly from the ninth level of heaven and is a cosmic, half-horse, half dragon who watches over humanity. However, the giant Spider Kumo has burned his wings while he slept and robbed his temple. Even the ninth level of heaven has a violent crime problem. Kumo fled to Ottawa, which is supposed to be the “mother-city of all spiders,” and lived underground. However, construction on the underground tunnel for the new rail transit line disturbed Kumo, forcing her above ground in a rather desperate state under the threat of losing Long Ma’s temple. Long Ma heard he may be able to get the temple back and set out for Ottawa using the route taken by early French explorer Samuel de Champlain. The two creatures encountered each other and occasionally had visible disagreement on their travels through downtown streets.

Long Ma asleep in front of City Hall. Photo: James Morgan

The dragon approaching the Mackenzie King Bridge with the University of Ottawa campus in the background. Photo: James Morgan

Kumo walking along Colonel By Drive in front of the convention center. This was probably not the best scene for anyone afraid of spiders! Photo: James Morgan

A fire-breathing dragon in downtown Ottawa! Photo: James Morgan

The dragon and spider met in a moment of tension at the Mackenzie King Bridge. Kumo is at the left, standing below on Colonel By Drive while Long Ma is on the right, atop the bridge. Photo: James Morgan

It isn’t everyday that one sees a giant dragon stomping its way past National Defence Headquarters. The Canadian Armed Forces did not appear to be concerned. Photo: James Morgan

Long Ma heading west on the Mackenzie-King Bridge toward Elgin Street. He later met Kumo again on Rideau Street and they spent the rest of the evening in the By Ward Market. Photo: James Morgan

About All In

All In is a place for everyone who works at NCPR to share behind the scenes activity, and surprising, curious, lovely or distinctly local tidbits from our travels around the region. We’ll post the best of what we find online, too. From time to time, you may hear from others—if you’d like to write an entry, send it to ellen@ncpr.org. What makes this place what it is? How do we connect to each other and the world? That’s what ALL IN is all about.